WE ARE MONSTERS
by Bakunawa
Summary: She has never known the love of a parent or a kind affection from a friend. She has been all alone her entire life, deprived and abused. Now she knows why. Fem!NarutoxSasuke.


**WE ARE MONSTERS**

by: _Bakunawa_

* * *

Once there appeared a Nine-tailed Fox Demon. Its mighty tails could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To fight the demon the people assembled all the shinobi from the village. One brave shinobi was able to seal up the demon, but because of that he lost his life. That shinobi was called the Fourth Hokage.

"Why were you doing that to the monument?" Iruka asks, frustration evident in his voice, "Don't you know who the Hokage are?"

"Of course I know!" Naruto answers with her mouth full of noodles, "Basically, those who get the Hokage title... are the strongest shinobi of this village, right?"

The blonde girl pauses for another slurp of soup. "And among them is the Fourth Hokage," she continues, "A hero who saved the village from a big bad Fox Demon."

"Then why?" This was not Naruto's first case for vandalism. Wasn't even the second and for sure won't be the last. But seriously, the girl has some issues with national effigies.

"Well... one day I'm going to get the Hokage title... I'll be the first female Hokage and then I will surpass all the previous Hokage!"

A small girl with blonde pigtails, wearing too bright orange jumpsuit, rambunctiously declaring her ambitious dream with puffed cheeks full of ramen noodles... One would have to forgive Iruka for not taking her seriously.

"Then the first step to being Hokage is to actually graduate from the academy," he gives her a pointed look, "Seriously, Naruto, you're driving me crazy. I don't think I can handle another year with you in my class."

"You have no faith at all!" She finishes her bowl with a slam. "You just wait and see tomorrow 'coz I'm gonna beat all your stupid tests!"

Good-naturedly, he gave his most bullheaded student a pat on the back before finishing his own meal.

She didn't pass. Everybody else did though. She wills herself not to care.

"Great job! That's my son!" A father yowls.

"Now, you're a man!" Says another.

"I'm so proud of you. I'm going to make you your favorite dinner." A giddy mother says.

She passed the physical portion of the exam without a hitch. Her hand-to-hand combat was above average since she could take a beating and could last longer though she lacked the finesse. Her weapons test was just average but she's always been a brawler anyway. Her scores for the written exam was a joke. She was only a few points shy of Shikamaru who fell asleep halfway through answering. So her last chance was supposed to be the ninjutsu portion but that was an epic fail.

This was supposedly her third attempt at graduating to genin but Iruka-sensei just had to include the Clone Technique for the final test. The jerk!

"Hey, that kid..." someone says.

"Yeah, that's 'the kid'," another answers, "And she's also the only one who failed."

"Well, that's a good thing."

"She shouldn't become a shinobi since she is-"

"Shhh... We're not supposed to talk about that remember?"

They were at least 25 paces away from the wooden swing she had gone to sulk. They didn't think she could hear them but Naruto had always had good hearing.

She wishes someone would make her her favorite ramen for dinner.

"Iruka-sensei is a sort of person who takes everything seriously," Mizuki-sensei tells her in an attempt to console, "You have to understand, his parents were killed when he was young and he had to take care of everything himself."

Naruto purses her lips. "I never knew that," she says somberly. "People told me my mom and dad died when the Fox Demon attacked... but if Iruka-sensei is like me then why does he only pick on me?!"

"Because he probably sees himself exactly in you," Mizuki answers sagely, "He's probably thinking he wants to see you become strong in the real way."

"But..." she wants to protest. She wants to believe that Iruka was a bully out to get her-that he purposely did not want her to graduate.

"Try to understand Iruka's feelings since you also have no parents."

"But I just want to graduate..." she whispers more to herself.

"You know what..." Mizuki starts enthusiastically after a short pregnant pause, "I'll tell you a special secret."

This catches Naruto's attention. She listens intently.

Mizuki-sensei is taking too long to join her in their rendezvous point. It has been well over 20 minutes and Naruto has never been known for her patience.

She's also brimming with curiosity. Mizuki-sensei told her the big fat scroll was filled with powerful nin techniques. He was going to teach her privately so that he could recommend her for a remedial test that would gain her a forehead protector.

Mizuki-sensei was clearly the cooler teacher and since it would probably take them the entire day and night, she should better start now, right?

"Let's see, the first jutsu is Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? Shadow Clone?" she reads then cringes, "What the.. Seriously?! Why does it start with the thing I'm bad at?"

She's exhausted and sore. She can practically feel her bones turning to mush. Maybe that's why the Hokage kept the scroll locked up in his personal vault because it takes too much to learn and put into application. She can only imagine what the other techniques left in the scroll can do.

She should have taken it easy. "Just a few minutes..." she tells herself between pants, brushing a sticky lock of hear from her eye, "Just take a breather Naruto, then we'll start on the second jutsu."

She realizes it was almost midday and still no Mizuki-sensei. She was starting to worry when she hears the sound of boots landing on the ground behind her. Her immediate thoughts were of Mizuki-sensei.

"... I've found you," says Iruka, breathless.

"The nose-bleeder? What are you doing here?"

"You idiot, show some respect and don't call me that!" the nin instructor howls.

"Okaaay," Naruto holds out hand in placation while the other pokes a finger in her ear, "Jeez, sensei you could have popped my ears right off-"

"Do you know what you've done?!" Iruka continues, "The entire village is looking for you!"

"I don't know what your talkin-"

"Don't even begin deny it, Naruto!" The instructor roughly grabs the large red scroll strapped to her back. "This... you stole this from the Hokage's vault. What were you thinking?!"

What is going on? Isn't Iruka-sensei here because he's going to give her her remedial test? Where's Mizuki-sensei?

"I didn't steal anything!" the blonde girl protests as her fingers clumsily tries to undo the buckles of the scroll's straps.

"Did it happen to be just lying around and you so happen to have stumbled upon it? People saw you breaking in the vault!"

"But I-I didn't..." Her eyes large and blue and pleading.

"It's one thing to play pranks, Naruto, but this is... stealing forbidden scrolls is a crime and you'll probably end up behind bars for who knows how long."

Iruka finally stops yelling, eyes full of concern for his student.

"Sensei, you have to believe me, I didn't steal this scroll!" She has finally undone the straps and has the scroll in her trembling hands. "M-Mizuki-sensei told me that he got me special permission to take it from the vault so that I could learn new techniques. He said he was going to find a way to get you to give me some remedial test so that I could graduate. I-I thought that was why you're here-"

"Wait a minute, what?" Iruka grabs both her shoulders to stop her frantic tirade. "Mizuki?"

"Yes. He said he wa-"

Naruto feels the rush of air leaving her lungs as Iruka forcefully throws her to the ground. She hears familiar swishing sounds of metal flying and several distinct thuds of metal introduced to wood.

"Nice job finding the little bitch," Mizuki says, perched on a tree.

"I see... so that's what's going on..." Iruka answers with a painful grunt. He has several kunai stuck to his person.

Naruto can not be more confused. Iruka was accusing her of theft a second ago, now Mizuki shows up calling her a bitch with an intent to kill both her and Iruka.

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei warns, "Whatever happens...don't give him the scroll!"

"Wait, wha-!" Naruto can only gape between both instructors.

"That's a dangerous scroll with forbidden jutsu written inside! He used you..." Iruka grunts, pulling a kunai from his shoulder, "to get his hands on it!"

If betrayal has a taste, Naruto guesses it would be something like this. She definitely doesn't like it.

"Naruto," Mizuki calls her name smoothly, "There's no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth-"

"Shut up, you asshole!" Iruka yells, pulling another kunai from his leg.

"Remember when you told me your parents died when the Fox Demon rampaged through the village?"

Naruto doesn't answer.

"And you know that the demon was sealed away, right?" Mizuki plows on though, "Since that day a special rule was created for this village."

"... a rule?" Naruto whispers. Iruka continues to throw all kinds of nasty at him.

"But that rule wasn't meant to be told to you."

"What... kind of rule?"

Mizuki snickers, "The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about that fact that you, Uzumaki Naruto, are the Nine-tailed Fox Demon."

Naruto faintly hears Iruka yelling at her again. She can't understand him though, his voice sounds so far away.

"You understand now, right?" Mizuki continues to laugh.

"What do you mean?" she asks weakly.

"Don't play dumb, Naruto-chan," Mizuki says, smiling with all teeth, "It only means that you are the Fox Demon that killed your mom and dad... that killed Iruka's mom and dad and destroyed the entire village all those years ago!"

"You were sealed up by the Fourth-"

"Stop it, Mizuki!" Iruka shouts.

"-using that very scroll in your hands and you have been lied to by everyone!"

It doesn't make sense but somehow... it sort of does.

She remains stock still. She listens and feels a burn down her throat. She can't breath.

"Didn't you find it odd that everyone hates you?" Mizuki draws a fuma shuriken silently. "Nobody wants to be near you. You're like a disease!"

"Stop..." she pants, covering her ears. She doesn't want to hear anymore.

"And like any disease, it needs to be purged!"

The fuma sails and for the second time, Naruto is bodily slammed to the ground.

She smells the metallic scent of blood before fully realizing it's Iruka-sensei's weight pushing her down. His face is pale and blood is dribbling down his chin.

He struggles to rise. Naruto sees the fuma shuriken protruding from his back.

"Sensei!" She panics. Why? Why? Why?

"My... My parents..." Iruka struggles to speak. "After they died there was no one to... compliment or acknowledge me..."

Naruto's chest burns. Her throat closes. She doesn't dare move. Why me? Why me?

"I always acted like an idiot just to get people's attention," he says, managing a bloody smile, "And since I wasn't good at learning or homework, I kept at it... It was better than nothing."

She feels hot tears, not her own, dripping down her cheeks. Why...?

"Naruto, you must also have been in a lot of pain... I'm sorry... If I only did a better job... You wouldn't have to feel like this..."

She runs away.

She's so small. Just a girl with large eyes so scared and confused and angry with the world.

She has never known the love of a parent or a kind affection from a friend. She has been all alone her entire life, deprived and abused. Now she knows why.

"Naruto isn't the type to have a change of heart," says the sniveling traitor, "She'll be planning to use the scroll to get revenge."

"You think you're such a fuckin' genius, don't know?" Iruka sneers, reaching for the fuma on his back and pulls, "But you got it all wrong. Naruto isn't like that."

"You kidding me, right? You saw those eyes earlier. Those were a demon's eyes!"

"She's just a girl!" Iruka yells.

"You know what-fuck it! I'll take care of you after I kill her." Mizuki leaps out of the way of his own fuma.

Lies... Lies... All lies!

She's not a demon. She just someone who likes to play pranks on people and eat ramen.

She's not a murderer. She just a poor orphan who so happens to celebrate her birthday on the exact same day people commemorate an unfortunate tragedy.

She's not a monster. She just a despicable little girl whom parents warn their children not to play with, whom teacher despise teaching because she's just that dumb and undesirable.

Everything... Everyone... Lies!

"You're really something, you know," Mizuki snickers again, "You'd even transform into what killed your parents just to protect her."

Iruka feels his energy dwindling. The Kawarimi Technique should not have taken so much out of him but it did. His back is bleeding profusely, staining the tree he's slumped against. If he doesn't find medical attention soon, his body will go into shock and die.

"I won't hand the scroll over to someone like you," Iruka says, spitting blood.

The fair-haired instructor shakes his head in disbelief. "She's got to you... Don't you understand, Iruka? It was only a matter of time before she starts remembering who she really was and there's no way that demon wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll."

"Yeah... the Fox Demon would do that..." Iruka struggles to keep upright and awake. He still needs to save Naruto. "But not Naruto. She's my student... I know her. She's not the Fox Demon. She's a member of the Hidden Leaf Village..."

Umino Iruka smiles genuinely. "She's Uzumaki Naruto."

Everything happened in a blur. Mizuki did not stand a chance.

He was about to kill Iruka for intervening when she came out of no where, throwing herself like a cannonball and knocking the fair-haired nin across the clearing. It angered the traitor, turning his fuma shuriken against her. But before he could nick a skin off her neck, a hundred or so Narutos popped out, filling the small forest clearing with blonde hair and bright orange jumpsuits-the Shadow Clone Technique. It might have been the blood-loss, the light-headedness, but Iruka could not help the small dopey smile from appearing on his face upon realizing his dead-last pupil learned and perfectly executed a B-ranked ninjutsu in half a day.

Now the traitor lies a bloody pulp on the ground with the real Naruto hovering above him. She has her fist clenched on a blade, ready to strike. Her face is stone with eyes blazing blue fire.

"Naruto..." Iruka calls for her.

She's trembling but doesn't move.

"Naruto..." he calls her again, grunting as he manages to stand up.

She still doesn't acknowledge him and Iruka begins to fear for the worst.

"You don't have to do it," he says cautiously.

Her eyes flicks to his direction. He sees a storm brewing behind her eyes with hurt, confused and angry. She grips the blade tighter.

"Am I a monster?" she asks too quietly.

Iruka vehemently shakes his head, "Never," he says.

She looks back to Mizuki, taking a small step forward. "I'd skin him alive if I were-"

"But you're not!" Iruka grabs her shoulders. She's surprised at how quickly he crossed the filled without her noticing.

"It's true?" she croaks, eyes falling to her feet.

"It's..." Iruka finds himself lost for words. "Naruto, listen... the Nine-tailed Fox Demon was a powerful creature. The things your read about it in the books doesn't compare to how it actually was... I was there and it practically bulldozed the entire village to the ground."

Naruto trembles. "I know..." she says.

Iruka kneels, ignoring the pain shooting through his injured leg. "That day, I remember everybody dying... including my parents," Iruka continues as the first tear drops from Naruto's blue eyes. "And many more would've been killed if not for the Fourth Hokage. He made a desperate move, Naruto, a sacrifice to save the village... but in our grief and hatred we completely forgot that sacrifice... who it was."

He pushes her chin up, wiping away the tears as his own eyes started to water. "I'm so sorry, Naruto... You are not the monster, we are. Because we were unfair and cruel to you. You deserved better than us."

"Sensei!" The instructor makes a move to kowtow but the blonde girl is quicker to intercept with a desperate embrace.

* * *

_Bakunawa's Corner: Don't own Naruto. This is Un-beta-ed._


End file.
